Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Thursdays used to be my baking morning and they are finally back. It is so wonderful to be back in an actual routine. I braced myself for the winter holidays last year and smoothed through, unscathed. Too bad I didn’t prepare myself for Spring, though! Between birthdays, Easter and our trip to Disneyland, I have been spun in way too many directions and there is nothing like being straightened out again!

I realized just how off things had gotten after my bowl of Fiber-One cereal I ate for dinner. I wasn’t sure what I was feeding the kids for their dinner and it was already 6 p.m. (oh, and they were both napping). Not exactly June Cleaver’s ideal day, right? But then, who really wants to be June Cleaver anyway? All that hairspray and no Facebook? No thanks.

Back to Thursdays.

Thursday mornings usually means muffins in the oven. I never intend on eating the muffins I make for my kids, but I try to make them extra healthy…just in case I do. Um, I always do. There is a fine line between healthy enough for mom to eat and tasty enough for my kids to enjoy. Today, that line was shattered!

There is a superb blog floating out there in blogospace, The Dashing Dish. A recipe created two years ago, called Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins, just begs to be replicated. The super cute creator, Katie, develops healthy alternatives to favorite foods.

This makeover was meant to replicate VitaTops. You know, the uber-expensive healthy muffin tops you find in the freezer? I can safely attest to her claim of victory. These muffins are so much yummier than the frozen chocolate disks that sell for $6 a box.

Her version is lower in calorie than mine, as she uses stevia. My kids don’t love stevia baked goods and I don’t blame them. I have yet to find a brand that does not leave a slight metallic taste in your mouth. I also noticed that I needed more chocolate chips than the recipe calls for. Perhaps it is because I chose to use maple syrup as my sweetener and the batter is thinner because of it. Either way, I think I’ll try mini chips next time, to see if they go further in covering the muffin.

I think I have mentioned before, how this is the time of year (in mom world), to volunteer for the upcoming year’s committees and events. I have already noticed that I have committed to more than I wish to and now have to slowly back out of a few things.

At the start of this year, I mentioned my goal of growing this blog and attending a food blogger conference. That is still one of my big goals for 2012. In addition to spending time in my son’s kindergarten classroom, I will also be starting school again (next week!) to finish earning my teaching credential and second Master’s degree. The first degree will only serve me in the teaching world, so I better get on that credential if I plan to put my education to use!

The point I am (slowly) getting to is, Food It Forward, kindergarten and college will be my main points of focus in 2012. So, though you may have heard it before, prepare to hear more and more from me!

Now it’s time to go and get my kids dressed. It is almost 11 a.m., after all. Otherwise, I’ll just stay here on the computer and airbrush out the scratches off the orange Ikea kids’ plate you see above.

Happy almost Friday!

Kim

This photo (from the movie, Magic Mike) has nothing to do with muffins. However, it will show up as a thumbnail on Facebook and drive more traffic to the blog. Hey, I warned you about my goals.